Washington: A unique residential study has concluded that, contrary to perceived wisdom, people with eating disorders do not lose self-control, leading to binge-eating, in response to stress. The findings of the Cambridge-led research are published today in the Journal of Neuroscience.
People who experience bulimia nervosa and a subset of those affected by anorexia nervosa share certain key symptoms, namely recurrent binge eating and compensatory behaviours, such as vomiting. The two disorders are largely differentiated by body mass index (BMI): adults affected by anorexia nervosa tend to have BMI of less than 18.5 kg/m2. More than 1.6 million people in the UK are thought to have an eating disorder, three-quarters of whom are women.
